Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting

With St. Patrick’s Day on the horizon I thought these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting drizzled with a caramel made from Bailey’s Irish Cream would be the perfect sweet for a holiday get together. In my kitchen beer isn’t just for drinking; and Guinness adds a great touch to these baked goods!

I had wanted to make the Chocolate Stout Cake from Barrington Brewery in Barrington, MA for the longest time; since 2002 when I first saw the recipe in Bon Appetit magazine. How it constantly got away from me is a mystery but it did and yet I never forgot about it; especially since discovering, much to my own surprise, just how much I love Guinness Stout Beer.

I decided to finally use the recipe (which has been duplicated like a bazillion times on the web) for these cupcakes a few years ago but switched gears in several ways. How much did I switch gears? Well, this delicious chocolate cake with chocolate frosting magically turned into Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting with a drizzle of Bailey’s Irish Cream Salted Caramel. Oh yes I did!

I decided this year it was time for that new photo for a great recipe and if I would have given up it could have been considered an epic fail. The cupcakes both flowed outside the liners and also sank in the middle making for a worse subject than in the photos I considered no longer acceptable. I did one tray at a time and after the first misstep I removed some of the batter from the liners and tried again. Nope, not gonna work; same thing happened but to a lesser degree.

SO many things that can wreck havoc on baking at a mile high. Was it the overcast day which might have lowered the air pressure just enough to make that difference in this already tricky environment? Was it too much leavening; not enough liquid? What the heck? I was thinking about Chef Gerhard mentioning that this change would be good for Denver and I had this funny, in the very back of my mind suspicion about altitude that took moments to discover.

Since moving to the city of Castle Rock, could that be the difference? A quick internet search and I find that, son of a gun, we’re 1,000 feet higher! I feel like an idiot for not knowing that for 4 years, but better late than never right? I’m going to have to do some testing to find my cupcake baking sweet spot but seems I’m going to have to get used to leavening changes again.

Rest assured; this won’t happen to you. I use tried and true recipes for everything I post; whether my own favorites or those from popular sources and while I make the necessary adjustments as I prepare the dish in my kitchen; those changes don’t get translated to the recipe shown since I want to share them with people in more than just a few states. I’ll just have to continue with my currents ways…have a problem? Fix it.

What did I do to rescue these cupcakes for today? Well if you look closely you can tell the cupcakes have been trimmed of their flying saucer edges and you can’t see the divot but who doesn’t love more frosting right? Yes, I’ll need to test some more for myself to get those High Altitude adjustments fixed, but I’ve also learned to flow with the mishaps, I will suffer through myriad cake and cupcake challenges and never ever consider leaving Colorado. I also didn’t remake these…and none of my friends noticed; they just loved the flavors!

For you flatlanders? You don’t know how lucky you are that stuff just works (and so will this recipe!).

Using Guinness doesn’t make them taste like beer although I can discern it’s presence but the chocolate and caramel notes of the beer complements the chocolate of this batter. Which is what I always expect espresso to do so I threw a bit of it in there too!

The frosting and drizzle together are pretty sweet but the cake is not; it’s closer to bittersweet so I thought they were perfect together. Another confession? I like to drizzle but I’m also taking photos and it adds a nice flourish to cupcakes. If you’re not a drizzler? No problem, these are delicious with or without.

These Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting would be absolutely fantastic on any day but certainly the perfect dessert for a St. Patrick’s Day party. Sláinte!

PIN ‘Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting’

Yield: Makes 24 Cupcakes

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting

These are the epitome of an adult cupcake for celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Guinness is added to a chocolate base and the cupcake is topped with Irish Whiskey frosting. It is indulgent and DELICIOUS!!

Someday maybe I won’t have any return…which will be good because it means that I can live with all the photos on my site. Yes ideally I would change a few that I’ve taken in the last 4 years but for the most part, it’s the ones I did years 5-8 that need a redo. Especially if it’s a good recipe and it’s represented with a shabby dress. 🙂

Would vanilla cupcakes balance well with the frosting? I have a few guests who aren’t a fan of chocolate *sigh*. Could I make the frosting and Baileys sauce the night before? Would it keep well in the fridge over night?

They would be fine; not quite the contrast but still good nonetheless. You know how frosting hardens a bit? If you make it the night before just make sure you affix a piece of saran wrap to the top of it so you don’t have to deal with incorporating the crunchy bits that will develop…but other than that I see no reason why it wouldn’t be fine. Just let everything come to room temperature before frosting. Enjoy! (It’s all about the frosting anyhow) 🙂

I can’t imagine trying to bake at that altitude! Makes me wonder how the bakeries around there operate. But these cupcakes – oh. my. goodness. How delicious! I’ve made cakes with Guinness and really appreciate the depth it adds. Plus that Bailey’s drizzle – what a great idea.

It’s really not that hard once you get a system and for me the oven temp thing worked for years; I just had not thought that my moving south also meant going up higher! I’m sure bakeries get a recipe that works and then it works every time.

But…. just think how many “failed” cupcakes you got to eat! I saw the photo of these floating around Facebook and had to come ogle. And get the recipe. They are fabulous and I’ll bet they are crazy good!

I love, love, love that you’ve used 3 Irish alcohols on this one dessert. Home run Barb! When I was doing research for the section of the book on high altitude, it said you have to make adjustments for every 1000 feet. I’ll bet you get it figured out quickly. But in the meantime, just keep creating these stunning beauties and we will all flock to admire and dream of tasting them! Amazing!

Well I wanted to make sure it fit the notion of IRISH right? I’m part Irish; much like these cupcakes. 🙂

The real problem with high altitude is that it’s tricky. More sensitive might be a good word. A little bit of cloud cover can change it from it’s normal ‘not normal’ baking status so if you’re cooking at high altitude you better be ready to punt; it’s been my saving grace.

I’m not sure I agree about the every thousand feet rule Jane; I concur with Keegan that making it work at 5,000 or below is minimal and his tip for baking worked like magic. But as you advance higher from there, it does get trickier and it took me finding out that 30 minutes away meant 1 mile further up and that made a difference. Probably just a slight change in leavening difference. Funny but I have always had any issues I’ve experienced with cakes or cupcakes but never bread; maybe yeast is more high altitude friendly? 🙂

I’ve made the Guinness stout cake from Barrington Brewery several times – it’s a winner. Still, no matter how good it is, your cupcakes are way cuter. I can’t imagine the gyrations you have to go to in baking at high altitude – kudos to you for even trying! And the fact that you persevered until you got blog-worthy cupcakes – amazing.

I love Progressive Eats too – and you’re so right, there’s something about cooking in a group that gets the creative juices flowing.

If you hadn’t fessed up, no one would know what happened :)) They looks absolutely Gorgeous and so perfect. Part of joy in cooking and baking is to have a setback once a while. They make for better stories don’t you think?

My Guinness cake is based on the Barrington recipe too. So good. And you prettied these babies right up–I am glad high altitude doesn’t keep you from baking, because your baked goods always look perfect and inviting and hunger-making.

Thanks Jenni and truth be told, I can’t let it bother me; it’s something I love doing. I should do a blog for high altitude with a twist. ‘How I Fixed My High Altitude Fails’ Because except for the mentioned angel food cake, I always do! 🙂

Thanks so much Jeanette; and maybe it’s time? For me the key to boozy anything, whether cocktail or cupcake, is a light hand. The booze should complement the food, not overpower it. Even with three different components it turned out just perfect; wish I could send you one!

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

KEEP IN TOUCH!

Creative Culinary is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.